Teach Citizenship in Public Schools

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote the dictionary, was of
the opinion that the American education system should be structured to
train students in citizenship. An early pioneer of public education, Webster
said the purpose of a public school is to “discipline our youth early
in life in sound maxims of moral, political and religious duties.”

Today, moral and political duties are secondary concerns in most public
schools, and religious duties are considered either obsolete or dangerous.
Religion in school is a debate unto itself, but moral and political education
deserves a serious discussion.
Both morality and politics are grounded in certain absolutes. When it
comes to morality, a student should know it is immoral to cheat on a test
or lie to a teacher. On the subject of politics, high-school graduates
should be aware, at minimum, that rights come from God, that government
is vested in the people and that political liberty requires political
responsibility.
In Kennewick, Washington, a citizen activist named Monte Benham discovered
that too many high-school graduates are oblivious to the key tenets of
citizenship that are derived from such documents as the Constitution,
the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Washington
State Constitution.
So Benham launched Initiative 285 in April to require all public schools
in the state to teach portions of our founding documents.
I-285 requires the teaching of those phrases that concern the philosophical
underpinnings of America. Such as the Declaration of Independence, which
identifies the source of rights: “All men are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.” And how many high-school graduates around
America are aware that their state even has a constitution?
Article 1 of the Washington state constitution says, “All political
power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain
individual rights.” The consistent messages of America’s great leaders
and texts are inescapable in our history. All fifty state constitutions
recognize God as the source of rights, and individuals as the agent of
rights.
I-285 requires the teaching of state and national founding documents in
such a way that they are linked to one another and their historical context
as well as other creeds and codes like the Mayflower Compact, the Pledge
of Allegiance, George Washington’s Farewell Address and the Gettysburg
Address.
The role of rights and responsibilities, the purpose of government, the
idea of freedom and its contrasts in tyranny and slavery these are the
core understandings that are necessary to good citizenship.
No doubt the truths I’ve just named have would anger those whose political
beliefs lean leftward. So I don’t think it’s too early to predict that
the radical left in the state of Washington will do all it can to keep
Initiative 285 from passing.
On most days, the left says that it supports the Constitution because
it grants them the ability to speak out against such things as firearms,
limited government and God. These same leftists would prefer that the
moral majority be left clueless about the existence of the Second Amendment,
the Tenth Amendment and the statement of rights in the Declaration.
When I-285 passes, the leftists might do all they can to see that the
initiative is struck down in court as they have done with a number of
other recent citizen initiatives in the state of Washington. Problem is,
I can’t quite imagine what’s unconstitutional about teaching the Constitution.

Hans Zeiger, 18, is an activist and columnist. He is president of the
Scout Honor Coalition and chairman of Washington Young Americans for Freedom.
He can be contacted at [email protected].